M.G.L.C. Loomans

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• Dr.ir.
• Professor (Associate) at Eindhoven University of Technology

During the rapid rise in COVID-19 illnesses and deaths globally, and notwithstanding recommended precautions, questions are voiced about routes of transmission for this pandemic disease. Inhaling small airborne droplets is probable as a third route of infection, in addition to more widely recognized transmission via larger respiratory droplets and...

This study reports the outcomes of a systematic literature review, which aims to determine the influence of four indoor environmental parameters -indoor air, thermal, acoustic, and lighting conditions - on the quality of teaching and learning and on students' academic achievement in schools for higher education, defined as education at a college or...

Some infectious diseases, including COVID-19, can be transmitted via aerosols that are emitted by an infectious person and inhaled by susceptible individuals. Most airborne transmission occurs at close proximity and is effectively reduced by physical distancing, but as time indoors increases, infections occur in those sharing room air despite maint...

Looking further than COVID-19, some of the key messages: 1. We from now on should include the risk of indoor respiratory infections in our design of buildings and its ventilation. 2. Treat the air quality in a similar way as we are used to for water and food quality. 3. ‘Visualize’ the air quality by displaying monitoring values (e.g. CO2 concentra...

Demand Response is used to reduce the mismatch between electricity generation by renewable energy sources and electricity demand. Buildings are large energy consumers and can play an important role in matching generation and demand. Energy flexibility is defined as the ability of a building to manage its generation and demand according to local cli...

This paper presents a generative AI approach using a conditional deep convolutional generative adversarial network (cDCGAN) to rapidly predict pollutant concentration fields in indoor environments. The cDCGAN model is applied to a case study of a generic classroom with multiple heat and pollution sources and two distinct ventilation system configur...

Given the critical importance of containing the spread of infectious airborne pathogens in indoor environments, ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) has become increasingly adopted as a non-intrusive technology for controlling microbiologic infections in these settings. However, modeling the disinfection process of UVGI in indoor environments...

This narrative review describes the capabilities of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to support the scientific analysis of fluid flows inside buildings, focusing on natural ventilation. The challenges posed by CFD, such as mesh generation, boundary conditions specification, choice of turbulence or radiation models and the ability to estimate the...

If some countries lead by example, standards may increasingly become normalized

In recent years, naturally ventilated glass façades have become a common feature in the design and retrofit of large-scale non-residential buildings, integrating architectural aesthetics and energy efficiency. These façade systems are complex and multifaceted. Thus, introducing them in buildings poses many challenges from economic, engineering, hea...

Purpose This study aims to qualitatively examine the relationship between the indoor environmental quality (IEQ), lecturers’ and students’ perceived internal responses and academic performance. Design/methodology/approach To capture user experiences with the IEQ in classrooms, semi-structured interviews with 11 lecturers and three focus group disc...

Thermal comfort models can be used to gain insight into important building design variables and predict whether a given design will provide satisfactory thermal conditions. There is a need for better industry standards and awareness towards thermal comfort as a multi-domain construct is increasing. However, despite the research efforts of academics...

A daycare center (DCC) is the most important indoor environment for young children besides their homes, where they keep the habit of daytime sleeping. They are vulnerable and susceptible to the health effects of airborne contaminants. Therefore, it is essential to keep a healthy indoor sleeping environment for young children in daycare centers. How...

Throughout history, the human population has experienced major outbreaks of infectious diseases. In December 2019 the previously unknown SARS-CoV-2 virus emerged, which had a huge impact globally. Residents of long- term care facilities (LTCFs) showed to be highly susceptible to infection due to their frailty. Respiratory infectious diseases, such...

This study explores if multiple alterations of the classrooms' indoor environmental conditions, which lead to environmental conditions meeting quality class A of Dutch guidelines, result in a positive effect on students' perceptions and performance. A field study, with a between-group experimental design, was conducted during the academic course in...

This is an account that should be heard of an important struggle: the struggle of a large group of experts who came together at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic to warn the world about the risk of airborne transmission and the consequences of ignoring it. We alerted the World Health Organization (WHO) about the potential significance of the a...

Purpose This paper aims to study employee mental health in relation to workplace design and indoor environmental quality (IEQ) when working from home, which has received little attention. The trend toward hybrid working urges for more knowledge. Design/methodology/approach Through a mixed data collection method, this study analyzed potential relat...

Several studies found that classrooms' indoor environmental quality (IEQ) can positively influence in‐class activities. Understanding and quantifying the combined effect of four indoor environmental parameters, namely indoor air quality and thermal, acoustic, and lighting conditions on people is essential to create an optimal IEQ. Accordingly, a sy...

The question of whether SARS‐CoV‐2 is mainly transmitted by droplets or aerosols has been highly controversial. We sought to explain this controversy through a historical analysis of transmission research in other diseases. For most of human history, the dominant paradigm was that many diseases were carried by the air, often over long distances and...

Daycare centers (DCCs) are where infants and toddlers (0–4 years old) spend the most time besides their homes. Given their higher susceptibility to the effects of air pollutants, as compared to older children and adults, indoor air quality (IAQ) is regarded as an essential parameter to monitor in DCCs. Recent advances in IAQ monitoring technologies...

Humidification is not a common procedure in many buildings in the Netherlands. An exception are buildings used for healthcare, especially hospitals. There, e.g. in operating theatres, relative humidity (RH) generally is controlled stringently at levels around 50%. From an energy point-of-view humidification is an energy-intensive activity. Currentl...

The 14th REHVA HVAC World Congress CLIMA2022 challenges advances in technologies for smart energy transition, digitization, circularity, health and well-being in buildings. How can we create circular buildings, fully heated, cooled and powered by renewable energy? How can we design human-centered indoor environments while mastering life-cycle costs...

Some infectious diseases, including COVID-19, can undergo airborne transmission. This may happen at close proximity, but as time indoors increases, infections can occur in shared room air despite distancing. We propose two indicators of infection risk for this situation, that is, relative risk parameter (Hr) and risk parameter (H). They combine the...

Recirculation is an important topic in the advice to anticipate the spread of viruses in buildings and spaces. However, the advice on recirculation also raises some questions. A generic advice cannot always be translated one-to-one in a specific situation. In this short article we would like to explain the backgrounds of the proposed advices in mor...

In the light of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a natural need to know more about the SARS-CoV-2 virus and how it develops. Ideally, we would like to look into the future and anticipate on that basis in order to limit the consequences. Building performance simulation models have been used for decades to calculate the energy demand of a building des...

Measuring house dust mite aeroallergen concentrations is essential in understanding mite allergen exposure. Physically, the aerolized house dust mite faeces are part of indoor particulate matter. We studied the statistical ways of summarizing measurements of fluctuating mite aeroallergen exposure inside homes through indoor particulate matter. To s...

Background and aim-In this study, it is presupposed that the indoor environmental conditions of classrooms can contribute to the quality of the educational process. Thermal, acoustic and visual conditions and indoor air quality (IAQ) may be extremely supportive in order to support the in-class tasks of teachers and students. This study explores the...

To enhance indoor climate monitoring and indoor climate assessment, a better understanding of the collection and analysis of monitored data, over longer time periods, is necessary. The goal of this work is to improve long-term monitoring in order to arrive at better performance of building indoor climate, with the perception of occupants in mind. I...

The use of cleanrooms is increasing and the expectation is that this growth will continue in the coming decade. When compared to an average office building, cleanrooms consume large amounts of energy due to their high Air Change Rates (ACRs) and strict air conditioning requirements. Application of Demand Controlled Filtration (DCF) is a means to re...

We present a tool that helps building designers design office buildings with high energy flexibility. The tool provides them with information they need in order to choose building and system parameters to achieve the highest amount of energy flexibility possible and satisfy the comfort of the occupants.

In cleanrooms, high ventilation rates are being used. This is in line with the available guidelines [1]. Normally the required air flows are applied 24/7 so the environmental cleanliness is not compromised. This therefore is an energy-intensive activity. As production is of higher economic importance than energy savings, cleanroom operators have pu...

The high Air Change Rates (ACRs) required for cleanrooms makes them energy intensive. This research elaborates on three strategies for energy efficient ventilation in pharmaceutical cleanrooms: Fine-tuning, Demand Controlled Filtration (DCF), and optimizing airflow pattern. To study the possibilities for fine-tuning and DCF, two case studies were i...

Thermal comfort in operating theatres is a less addressed research component of the indoor environment in operating theatres. The air quality naturally gets most attention when considering the risk of surgical site infections. However, the importance of thermal comfort must not be underestimated. In this research, the current thermal comfort situat...

Ongeveer 25% van alle werkenden in Nederland werkt in een kantooromgeving [1]. Het realiseren van een stimulerende werkomgeving in kantoorgebouwen is daarom essentieel. Tegenwoordig zien ook steeds meer werkgevers het belang van een goed binnenklimaat voor een succesvolle organisatie. Kleine veranderingen in productiviteit kunnen immers een signifi...

This article presents an improved approach for assessing occupant thermal comfort and, in turn, more efficient indoor conditioning. The occupant activity level is an important determinant of required comfort conditions and thus building energy use. For nine volunteers, the activity pattern during typical office days was monitored. Detailed profiles...

Studies indicate that the energy performance gap between real and calculated energy use can be explained for 80% by occupant behaviour. This human factor may be composed of routine and thermoregulatory behaviour. When occupants do not feel comfortable due to high or low operative temperatures and resulting high or low skin temperatures, they are li...

For the article, please use the following link: https://sciencetrends.com/using-open-door-windows-to-ventilate-bedrooms-and-the-consequent-effect-on-sleep-quality/

Indoor air quality and thermal comfort of existing naturally ventilated classrooms in the Indian capital territory, Delhi, is substandard. This should be improved while trying to prevent the increase in energy demand. The research question focused on solution options to answer these contradictory requirements.

Published in REHVA Journal: Indoor air quality and thermal comfort of existing naturally ventilated classrooms in the Indian capital territory, Delhi, is substandard. This should be improved while trying to prevent the increase in energy demand. The research question focused on solution options to answer these contradictory requirements.

To understand how transition across different thermal zones in a building impacts the thermal perception of occupants, the current work examines occupant feedback in two work environments — nursing staff in hospital wards and the workers in an office. Both studies used a mix of subjective surveys and objective measurements. A total of 96 responses...

In indoor comfort research, thermal comfort of care-professionals in hospital environment is a little explored topic. To address this gap, a mixed methods study, with the nursing staff in hospital wards acting as participants, was undertaken. Responses were collected during three weeks in the summer (n = 89), and four weeks in the autumn (n = 43)....

Not much is known about the favourable indoor air quality in long term care facilities (ltcf's), where older adults suffering from dementia live. Older adults, especially those who suffer from dementia, are more sensible to the indoor environment. However, no special requirements for the indoor air in long term care facilities exist. Due to the dec...

Existing guidelines on monitoring of Indoor Climate Quality (ICQ) do not adequately address long term monitoring. A better understanding of the collection and analysis of monitored data, extending over a longtime period is required. This study aimed at addressing the aforementioned research gaps. The study took place in two office buildings, during...

Current comfort standards are often unable to accurately portray student requirements. To improve the thermal comfort in a university classroom, a better understanding of student thermal perception to temporal transitions in classroom is necessary. Our study tries to address this gap through a mixed methods approach, thermal comfort study in an und...

Indoor to outdoor transitions have an undeniable impact on thermal perception of occupants and can impact their evaluation of a building. These aspects are often overlooked in thermal comfort standards. We address this gap using a mixed methods study, with students in undergraduate level classrooms acting as the participants. We try to identify the...

This work examined window/door opening as means of bedroom ventilation and the consequent effect upon occupants’ sleep, using data from 17 healthy volunteers. Bedroom CO2 level, temperature, and relative humidity were measured over 5 days, for two cases: open window or door (internal, bedroom door), and closed window and door. Participant filled qu...

Indoor to outdoor transitions, and the subsequent occupant adaptation, impact thermal perception of occupants and their evaluation of a building. A mixed methods thermal comfort study in a classroom of Eindhoven University of Technology was conducted to provide a better understanding of thermal perception of students as they move into and adapt to...

A NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) ward caters to critical situations. Health and wellbeing of premature infants are positively impacted through attention to the indoor thermal conditions. At the same, the caregivers (hospital personnel and parents) have different thermal comfort requirements. This research addresses these contradictory thermal...

The buildings sector, being a leading energy consumer, would need to lead in conservation efforts as well. There is a growing consensus that variability in indoor conditions can be acceptable to occupants, improve comfort perception, and lower building energy consumption. This work endeavours to scrutinise and summarise studies that examined human...

Risk assessment has an important issue in design practice for Public Private Partnership projects. However, the use of building simulation tools for risk analysis is not yet common practice. The paper presents a stochastic methodology to efficiently employ building simulation tools in the risk management process. An application example shows its po...

Mechanical balanced ventilation systems typically is applied in new and renovated dwellings in The Netherlands. The application assumes an adequate ventilation efficiency but this has not been confirmed for larger rooms (e.g. living rooms with kitchen attached). This study investigates ventilation efficiency for balanced ventilation of an L-shaped...

Limited information is available on thermal comfort performance of the indoor environment in health care facilities both for staff and patients. Thermal comfort models such as Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) and Adaptive Thermal Comfort (ATC), have not been applied extensively for this setting. In this research these models have been tested. Thermal comf...

In the Netherlands, over 40% of nursing home residents are estimated to have visual impairments. This results in the loss of basic visual abilities. The nursing home environment fits more or less to residents’ activities and social participation. This is referred to as environmental fit. To raise professional awareness of environmental fit, an Envi...

Research indicates that low-energy dwellings are more sensitive to overheating than regular dwellings. In this research the ventilative cooling potential of low-energy dwellings is considered. A low-energy dwelling based on the Active House concept, “House of Tomorrow Today” (HoTT), has been investigated as representative for low-energy dwellings i...

Building energy and occupant health concerns have increased the desire for variable, dynamic indoors and hence the interest in comfort of non-uniform and/or transient thermal conditions. An extended thermal comfort field study in the Hermitage Amsterdam museum afforded a unique opportunity to analyse evolving subjective perception of occupants, upo...

A local operating theatre ventilation device to specifically ventilate the wound area has been developed and investigated. The ventilation device is combined with a blanket which lies over the patient during the operation. Two configurations were studied: Configuration 1 where HEPA-filtered air was supplied around and parallel to the wound area and...

Field studies suggest that the availability of adjustable thermostats, operable windows and other controls has a positive impact on comfort, the incidence of building related symptoms and productivity. This laboratory study was designed to further investigate how having or not having control over the thermal environment affects human responses to t...

Can computer simulations be used to predict occupant satisfaction and stimulate the design of energy-efficient, healthy buildings? This is the central question of this paper. In everyday practice, simulations are mostly used for building energy analysis and for limiting the occurrence of discomfort. There are, however, also opportunities for a more...

A field study was conducted in nine modern office buildings in the Netherlands. The study focused on perceived control over indoor climate and its impact on satisfaction of building occupants, the incidence of building related (SBS) symptoms and self-assessed performance. The study involved a questionnaire amongst 236 office workers. Statistical an...

Surgical side infections occurred in 2.9% of the operations in conventionally ventilated operating theaters in The Netherlands. New performance-based Dutch guidelines offered the opportunity to apply alternative systems. Therefore, a local ventilation system was studied where only the wound area and the instrument tables are ventilated. The clean a...

A local operating theatre ventilation device which ventilates the wound area only, was investigated applying a parameter study. The ventilation device is combined with a blanket which lies over the patient during the operation. Two configurations were studied: configuration 1 where HEPA-filtered air was supplied around and parallel to the wound are...

Het zogenaamde luchtdicht bouwen krijgt steeds meer aandacht. Er zijn in het verleden door het toenmalige SenterNovem in het kader van het E’novatie programma al veel luchtdichtheidsmetingen uitgevoerd. Na circa twee decennia zijn het nu steeds vaker de opdrachtgevende en uitvoerende partijen zelf die om de zogenaamde ‘blower-door-tests’ vragen om...

Het is wenselijk dat gebouwen beschikken over voldoende en de juiste mogelijkheden om te ventileren. Buiten de benodigde ventilatievoorzieningen is het echter de bedoeling een gebouw zo luchtdicht mogelijk te maken ten einde comfortklachten en onnodig energiegebruik te voorkomen. In het Bouwbesluit zijn eisen met betrekking tot de luchtdoorlatendhe...

A multilayer study was designed to investigate how having or not having control over one’s indoor climate affects work performance in office buildings. The study consisted of 2 stages. The HOPE database (with results from a large study in 64 European office buildings) was reanalyzed on correlations between perceived control and self-assessed produc...

Often a discrepancy exists between the theoretical and actual (perceived) comfort level in buildings. Monitoring tools, like Monavisa, are used to assess the building system performance. In this study, it is investigated whether and to what extent the data collected by a monitoring tool can also be used to assess the building comfort level. To this...

Not much is known about the favourable indoor air conditions in long term care facilities (ltcf’s), where older adults suffering from dementia live. Due to the decrease in cognition function, it is hard to evaluate comfort and health in this group. Nevertheless, infectious diseases are a persistent problem. Based on literature an assessment method...

A multilayer study was designed to investigate how having or not having control over one's indoor climate affects work performance in office buildings. The study consisted of 2 stages. The HOPE database (with results from a large study in 64 European office buildings) was reanalyzed on correlations between perceived control and self-assessed produc...

Often a discrepancy exists between the theoretical and actual (perceived) comfort level in buildings. Monitoring tools, like Monavisa, are used to assess the building system performance. In this study, it is investigated whether and to what extent the data collected by a monitoring tool can also be used to assess the building comfort level. To this...

Het is wenselijk dat gebouwen beschikken over voldoende en de juiste mogelijkheden om te ventileren. Buiten de benodigde ventilatievoorzieningen is het echter de bedoeling een gebouw zo luchtdicht mogelijk te maken ten einde comfortklachten en onnodig energiegebruik te voorkomen. In het Bouwbesluit zijn eisen met betrekking tot de luchtdoorlatendhe...

2013) Fire safety assessment of semi-open car parks based on validated CFD simulations, Building Simulation, http://link.springer.com/article/10. Abstract Guidelines for the safe design of semi-open car parks require a minimum amount of open façade in order to ensure an effective removal of heat and smoke during a car fire. In this study the fire s...

A field study was conducted during the heating season in nine modern office buildings in the Netherlands. A first objective of the study was to investigate what kind of control Dutch office workers have over temperature in winter (available control), to map how often these controls are used (exercised control) and to identify how much control the o...

The use of low exergy cooling concepts in the built environment can reduce the reliance upon high-quality energy sources. However, the application of such cooling systems can result in whole-body and local discomfort of the occupants. The differences in thermal perception between genders are studied to understand how convective and radiant cooling...

The objective of this study was to find out how perceived control and access to control options like operable windows and thermostats affect the comfort and health of European office workers. For this, the Health Optimisation Protocol for Energy-efficient Buildings database was re-analysed. Statistical analyses were conducted to find out what the i...

Thermal comfort, influenced by thermal sensation is an important building performance indicator. In this study we discuss the use of a thermophysiological model in the built environment to assess thermal sensation. In the context of this work, the use of CFD to simulate the thermal environmental conditions around a human is analyzed. Experimental d...